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Article 1305.A contract is a meeting of minds between two persons whereby one binds himself, withrespect to the other, to give something or to render some service. (1254a)

Article 1306. The contracting parties may establish such stipulations, clauses, terms and conditions asthey may deem convenient, provided they are not contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order, orpublic policy. (1255a)

Article 1307. Innominate contracts shall be regulated by the stipulations of the parties, by the provisionsof Titles I and II of this Book, by the rules governing the most analogous nominate contracts, and by thecustoms of the place. (n)

Article 1308. The contract must bind both contracting parties; its validity or compliance cannot be left tothe will of one of them. (1256a)

Article 1309. The determination of the performance may be left to a third person, whose decision shallnot be binding until it has been made known to both contracting parties. (n)

Article 1310. The determination shall not be obligatory if it is evidently inequitable. In such case, thecourts shall decide what is equitable under the circumstances. (n)

Article 1311. Contracts take effect only between the parties, their assigns and heirs, except in casewhere the rights and obligations arising from the contract are not transmissible by their nature, or bystipulation or by provision of law. The heir is not liable beyond the value of the property he received fromthe decedent.

If a contract should contain some stipulation in favor of a third person, he may demand its fulfillmentprovided he communicated his acceptance to the obligor before its revocation. A mere incidental benefitor interest of a person is not sufficient. The contracting parties must have clearly and deliberatelyconferred a favor upon a third person. (1257a)

Article 1312. In contracts creating real rights, third persons who come into possession of the object of thecontract are bound thereby, subject to the provisions of the Mortgage Law and the Land RegistrationLaws. (n)

Article 1313. Creditors are protected in cases of contracts intended to defraud them. (n)

Article 1314.Any third person who induces another to violate his contract shall be liable for damages tothe other contracting party.(n)

Article 1315. Contracts are perfected by mere consent, and from that moment the parties are bound notonly to the fulfillment of what has been expressly stipulated but also to all the consequences which,according to their nature, may be in keeping with good faith, usage and law. (1258)Article 1316. Real contracts, such as deposit, pledge and commodatum, are not perfected until thedelivery of the object of the obligation. (n)

Article 1317.No one may contract in the name of another without being authorized by the latter, orunless he has by law a right to represent him.

A contract entered into in the name of another by one who has no authority or legal representation, orwho has acted beyond his powers, shall be unenforceable, unless it is ratified, expressly or impliedly, bythe person on whose behalf it has been executed, before it is revoked by the other contracting party.(1259a)Article 1318. There is no contract unless the following requisites concur:

(1) Consent of the contracting parties;

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Article 1332. When one of the parties is unable to read, or if the contract is in a language not understoodby him, and mistake or fraud is alleged, the person enforcing the contract must show that the termsthereof have been fully explained to the former. (n)

Article 1333. There is no mistake if the party alleging it knew the doubt, contingency or risk affecting theobject of the contract. (n)

Article 1334. Mutual error as to the legal effect of an agreement when the real purpose of the parties isfrustrated, may vitiate consent. (n)

Article 1335. There is violence when in order to wrest consent, serious or irresistible force is employed.

There is intimidation when one of the contracting parties is compelled by a reasonable and well-groundedfear of an imminent and grave evil upon his person or property, or upon the person or property of hisspouse, descendants or ascendants, to give his consent.

To determine the degree of intimidation, the age, sex and condition of the person shall be borne in mind.

A threat to enforce one's claim through competent authority, if the claim is just or legal, does not vitiateconsent. (1267a)

Article 1336. Violence or intimidation shall annul the obligation, although it may have been employed bya third person who did not take part in the contract. (1268)

Article 1337. There is undue influence when a person takes improper advantage of his power over thewill of another, depriving the latter of a reasonable freedom of choice. The following circumstances shallbe considered: the confidential, family, spiritual and other relations between the parties, or the fact thatthe person alleged to have been unduly influenced was suffering from mental weakness, or was ignorantor in financial distress. (n)

Article 1338. There is fraud when, through insidious words or machinations of one of the contractingparties, the other is induced to enter into a contract which, without them, he would not have agreed to.(1269)

Article 1339. Failure to disclose facts, when there is a duty to reveal them, as when the parties are boundby confidential relations, constitutes fraud. (n)

Article 1340. The usual exaggerations in trade, when the other party had an opportunity to know thefacts, are not in themselvesfraudulent. (n)

Article 1341.A mere expression of an opinion does not signify fraud, unless made by an expert and theother party has relied on the former's special knowledge. (n)

Article 1342. Misrepresentation by a third person does not vitiate consent, unless such misrepresentationhas created substantial mistake and the same is mutual. (n)

Article 1343. Misrepresentation made in good faith is not fraudulent but may constitute error. (n)

Article 1344. In order that fraud may make a contract voidable, it should be serious and should not havebeen employed by both contracting parties.

Incidental fraud only obliges the person employing it to pay damages. (1270)

Article 1345. Simulation of a contract may be absolute or relative. The former takes place when theparties do not intend to be bound at all; the latter, when the parties conceal their true agreement. (n)

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Article 1346.An absolutely simulated or fictit ious contract is void. A relative simulation, when it does notprejudice a third person and is not intended for any purpose contrary to law, morals, good customs, publicorder or public policy binds the parties to their real agreement. (n)

Article 1347.All things which are not outside the commerce of men, including future things, may be theobject of a contract. All rights which are not intransmissible may also be the object of contracts.

No contract may be entered into upon future inheritance except in cases expressly authorized by law.All services which are not contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order or public policy maylikewise be the object of a contract. (1271a)

Article 1348. Impossible things or services cannot be the object of contracts. (1272)

Article 1349. The object of every contract must be determinate as to its kind. The fact that the quantity isnot determinate shall not be an obstacle to the existence of the contract, provided it is possible todetermine the same, without the need of a new contract between the parties. (1273)

Article 1350. In onerous contracts the cause is understood to be, for each contracting party, theprestation or promise of a thing or service by the other; in remuneratory ones, the service or benefit whichis remunerated; and in contracts of pure beneficence, the mere liberality of the benefactor. (1274)

Article 1351. The particular motives of the parties in entering into a contract are different from the causethereof. (n)

Article 1352. Contracts without cause, or with unlawful cause, produce no effect whatever. The cause isunlawful if it is contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order or public policy. (1275a)

Article 1353. The statement of a false cause in contracts shall render them void, if it should not beproved that they were founded upon another cause which is true and lawful. (1276)

Article 1354.Although the cause is not stated in the contract, it is presumed that it exists and is lawful,unless the debtor proves the contrary. (1277)

Article 1355. Except in cases specified by law, lesion or inadequacy of cause shall not invalidate acontract, unless there has been fraud, mistake or undue influence. (n)